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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. can — a tin
  3. chair — a leader
  4. ground — crushed
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. can — a tin
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. capital — a city
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. capital — money
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. can — to be able to
  19. game — a match
  20. ground — the earth
  21. game — wild animals
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cell — a phone
  24. snap — to click

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com